First Look: Matt Kindt’s Time-Warped Revolver

Careening between alternate realities every time the clock strikes 11:11, Matt Kindt’s graphic novel Revolver is a subtle exploration of boredom and apocalypse, consumption and survival.

Due in July from DC Comics’ mature imprint Vertigo, Revolver‘s rough but sharp pages, previewed in the exclusive panels above and below, illustrate a world torn apart by war, disease and disinformation. It’s one of the finest comics from prolific, Eisner-nominated writer and illustrator Kindt, who found critical and commercial success with Super Spy.

If you’re looking for the standard mainstream-comic apocalypse, all bang and no brains, you might want to look elsewhere. But if you’re on the hunt for a cleverly weighty interrogation of identity and community in an age of omnipresent media, then Kindt’s dystopian Revolver — with its story of a working stiff whiplashing between two wildly different realities — just might be your weapon of choice.

The Missouri-based Kindt started out in the ’90s, self-publishing his own zines and pursuing a graphic-design degree. The ’00s rewarded his hard work, starting with Harvey-nominated Pistolwhip, published by Top Shelf Productions in 2001. Pistolwhip spinoffs, plus Eisner-nominated design work with Brett Warnock on Alan Moore and Melinda Gebbie’s stunning Lost Girls, set the table for further success with Super Spy and more.

Revolver is Kindt’s first tour with Vertigo, which has lately churned out a steady stream of impressively subdued yet powerful comics like Jeff Lemire’s The Nobody, Mike Carey’s The Unwritten and, most notably, Kevin Baker’s destabilizing Luna Park.

Wired.com will chat with Kindt later about his new dystopian effort. But scan the exclusive panels here and let us know if you think Revolver‘s stark art can deliver a suitable apocalypse.

A dead-end photo editor discovers an alternate reality as a guerilla journo in Revolver, due July 14.Images courtesy DC Comics